Modeling the Past: An Archeological Dig in Polis, Cyprus

Joanna Smith, William Childs, Szymon Rusinkiewicz

Over 2000 years of civilization has been documented by the Princeton University excavations directed by William Childs at Polis Chrysochous, in northwest Cyprus. The modern village lies over the ancient city of Arsinoe (c. 270s BCE – 1400s CE) and the even older city-kingdom of Marion (founded by c. 800 BCE). In preparation for the exhibition, City of Gold: Tomb and Temple in Ancient Cyprus, to run in the Princeton University Art Museum from October 20, 2012 to January 20, 2013, two students used 3-D scanners in the summer of 2011 to document architectural and sculptural material. Those scans then populated of 3-D reconstructions created by students in a cross-listed Computer Science / Art & Archaeology / Hellenic Studies course taught by Szymon Rusinkiewicz and Joanna Smith. Their subjects were an Archaic sanctuary, a Classical temple, a large Hellenistic building, and a Late Antique Basilica found in the excavations. They conducted research into appropriate visual metaphors for conveying uncertainty and change in these 3-D visualizations. Their final projects will contribute to a short (5-minute) computer-animated movie for the exhibition focused on evolution of the buildings, spatial relationships and sightlines, building materials, and different reconstructions consistent with the excavations.

About the speakers:

William A. P. Childs is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University; he began the Princeton Cyprus Expedition in 1983 and is director of the project (wchilds@princeton.edu)

Szymon Rusinkiewicz is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University; he began working with the Princeton Cyprus Expedition in 2010; (smr@cs.princeton.edu)

Joanna S. Smith is an Associate Professional Specialist in the Department of Art and Archaeology and a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University; she began working with the Princeton Cyprus Expedition in 1988 and is Assistant Director of the project (joannas@princeton.edu)